NEWARK, Ohio — A judge said a man is guilty of six lesser homicide charges and assault for the 2023 bus crash that killed six people, including three Tuscarawas Valley students, in Licking County.
Truck driver Jacob McDonald, 61, of Zanesville, was charged with 26 criminal counts: six third-degree felony counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, nine fourth-degree felony counts of vehicular assault and 11 first-degree misdemeanor counts of assault.
A judge found McDonald guilty on the lesser-included offenses of vehicular homicide, but he found that he wasn't reckless and is not guilty of all other charges.
The judge said the court has failed to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the other charges.
The trial began in early May, nine months after McDonald had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecutors said McDonald was speeding and failed to brake for slowing traffic on Interstate 70 because he was looking at his phone.
His defense attorney, Chris Brigdon, disputed that, saying that the cellular data cited by investigators did not clearly show what was happening before the crash. Brigdon said after the verdict was announced that McDonald was still devastated by the crash because he knows he caused it.
"Today’s verdict acknowledges that Mr. McDonald is responsible for the crash that took Shannon Wigfield’s life, but for the Wigfield family, the outcome is bittersweet. While the court found that this was not a blameless tragedy, it stopped short of delivering the full measure of accountability her family believes is warranted," said attorney Sean Alto of Cooper Elliott, on behalf of the family of Shannon Wigfield. Alto is representing the family in the civil case.
Wigfield was a faculty member who died in the crash.
"Shannon was a beloved mother, wife, and teacher. Her life mattered. Our work is not done," Alto said in a statement. "Through the civil case, we will continue to push for full truth and lasting change. We owe that to Shannon and to every family traveling Ohio’s roads to help ensure a tragedy like this never happens again."
Thie Associated Press contributed to this report.